“Hurricane” Carter to speak at UIS

March 22, 2005

SPRINGFIELD - Dr. Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, the former middleweight
contender whose boxing career was ended by a conviction for three
murders he did not commit, will speak on “The Fight for Justice” at 7:15
p.m. Wednesday, April 13, in the Studio Theatre, located on the lower
level of the Public Affairs Center at the University of Illinois at
Springfield. The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Rubin
"Hurricane" Carter

The program is presented by the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project at
UIS and co-sponsored by UIS’ Innocence Project Club, Institute for Legal and
Policy Studies, Inter-Club Council Board, Speaker’s Award Committee, and
Student Activities Committee.

Carter’s visit will be preceded by screenings of the film The
Hurricane, starring Denzel Washington, at noon, 6 p.m., and 9:30 p.m. on
Thursday, March 31, in Brookens Auditorium, lower level of Brookens Library
at UIS. Washington was nominated for a 2000 Academy Award as Best Actor for
his role in this movie. The film is also free and open to the public.

As a young boxer, Carter’s fast and furious style made him a favorite
with audiences and earned him the nickname “Hurricane.” He was a contender
for the middleweight championship in 1966 when three white patrons of a New
Jersey bar were shot to death and he was mistakenly identified as one of the
killers. He and an acquaintance were tried and found guilty by an all-white
jury. Carter narrowly escaped the electric chair and was given three life
sentences. In 1974, he published The Sixteenth Round, an account of
the events that led to his incarceration and a portrait of his life in
prison. The book made him a celebrity and inspired Bob Dylan to write the
ballad “Hurricane,” which helped bring further media attention to Carter’s
case. On November 7, 1985, Federal District Judge H. Lee Sarokin freed
Carter after determining that his conviction was based on an appeal to
racial prejudice rather than fact-based evidence.

Since his release, Carter has become a legal crusader and civil rights
advocate. Founder of the Canadian group Association in Defense of the
Wrongly Convicted, he also sits on the board of directors of the Southern
Center for Human Rights, based in Atlanta, Georgia. In demand as a guest
lecturer, he frequently speaks to groups of young people on the importance
of staying in school. He has also testified before Congress on the need for
preserving federal review of state court convictions, was invited to the
White House to meet with President Clinton on issues related to the death
penalty in America, has addressed the United Nations General Assembly, and
spoke alongside Nelson Mandela at the first World Reconciliation Day in
Australia. In 2003, Carter was awarded an honorary doctorate in law from
Griffith University in Australia in recognition of his work with innocence
projects around the world.

UIS’ Downstate Illinois Innocence Project is housed within the Institute
for Legal and Policy Studies. Under its auspices, students in Legal Studies
and other degree programs provide research and investigative assistance to
individuals who have been arrested, tried, found guilty, and imprisoned for
crimes the Project believes they did not commit.

A reception with Carter will precede his public presentation on April 13.
Tickets to the reception are $50 per person and advance registration is
required. For more information or to make reservations, contact Jeri
Fredrick in the Institute for Legal and Policy Studies at 206-7985 or by
e-mail at frederick.jeri@uis.edu.

The University of Illinois at Springfield,
one of three U of I campuses, is a small, public liberal arts university
that
offers
42 degree programs – 21
bachelor’s, 20 master’s, and the Doctorate of Public Administration.
UIS has a special mission in public affairs and service and is known for
extraordinary internships, a wireless campus, extensive online offerings,
and a commitment to teaching.